Remains to be released to family; dogs, hypnosis may be part of hearing

By JOHN COTÉ BEE STAFF WRITER

Published: August 19, 2003, 05:56:00 AM PDT

Testimony about human scent-tracking dogs and a prosecution witness interviewed using "hypnosis techniques" is expected to play a role in the preliminary hearing for accused double murderer Scott Peterson, newly released court documents show.

A separate court document made public Monday indicates that the remains of Peterson's wife, Laci, and unborn son, Conner, will be released to family members no later than Friday after a defense specialist X-rays the fetus.

Scott Peterson, 30, is charged with two counts of murder in the deaths. He has pleaded innocent.

The bodies were found in April along the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay, roughly four months after Laci Peterson's reported disappearance from her Modesto home touched off a widespread search.

Modesto police used several dogs in the hunt for the 27-year-old substitute teacher.

Scott Peterson said he last saw his wife the morning of Dec. 24 as he left for a solo fishing trip to the bay and she prepared to walk their golden retriever, McKenzie, in Dry Creek Regional Park.

A potentially key development came Dec. 26, when a specially trained bloodhound from the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Department indicated to its handler that Laci Peterson left her Covena Avenue home in a vehicle, not on foot.

The dog headed to Yosemite Boulevard, away from the park. Later, the dog led its handler from the Peterson house all the way to Maze Boulevard.

The handler at the time declined to identify herself or the dog.

The defense has requested a bevy of information about dogs used in the case, including their veterinary records, training reports, reliability tests and trainers' backgrounds, according to court documents filed by defense attorney Kirk McAllister.

In a July 29 letter to Senior Deputy District Attorney Rick Distaso, one of the prosecutors on the case, lead defense attorney Mark Geragos wrote that Distaso had "previously indicated to me that the prosecution intends to call witnesses at the preliminary hearing who will testify as to human scent-tracking dogs."

The defense specifically wants information about a dog named Merlin and the dog's handler, Cindee Valentin, a deputy with the Contra Costa County Emergency Services Search and Rescue Unit, a division of the sheriff's department. Reserve Capt. Christopher Boyer of the search and rescue unit also was named.

Valentin could not be reached for comment. Contra Costa County Sheriff's spokesman Jimmy Lee said Valentin had been subpoenaed and was covered by a gag order imposed in the case by Judge Al Girolami.

The dog information request was contained in an eight-page motion listing 26 areas where the defense wanted more information from prosecutors.

Prosecutors replied in documents filed Monday that they had fully complied with the law, turning over 23,700 pages of documents, 18 videotapes, 100 audiotapes, five DVDs and three CDs of wiretap recordings, among other items.

Distaso also noted in the filing that prosecutors are requesting information from the defense, including the names and addresses of potential witnesses and any real evidence the defense intends to offer at the preliminary hearing, set for Sept. 9.

At a defense request, a hearing on evidentiary issues is scheduled for Sept. 2.

The prosecution document also indicates that one prosecution witness, identified as "Kristen Deppenwolf" was questioned in a "cognitive interview where hypnosis techniques were used."

A Kristen Deppenwolf could not be identified through public records, and it was unclear what role she could play in the case.

Distaso's response also noted that the prosecution has no known evidence that would clear Peterson.

Geragos alleged in court documents filed last month that prosecution evidence turned over to the defense last month "totally exonerates" Peterson and will tip off the true killers if made public.

The Peterson case has attracted national media attention during the search and now the court hearings

Peterson not a 'reality' show

By JOHN COTÉ BEE STAFF WRITER

Published: August 19, 2003, 05:55:59 AM PDT

Professing a reluctance to turn the proceeding into a "reality" television show, Stanislaus County Superior Court Judge Al Girolami on Monday banned television and still cameras from the preliminary hearing for accused double-murderer Scott Peterson.

Prosecutors are preparing to lay out closely guarded elements of their case during the hearing, sheduled for Sept. 9.

Girolami is expected to decide at the close of the hearing whether there is sufficient evidence to try the 30-year-old fertilizer salesman from Modesto.

Peterson is charged with murdering his wife, Laci, 27, and the couple's unborn son, Conner.

The case sparked intense media attention after Laci Peterson, nearly eight months pregnant, was reported missing Christmas Eve. Her body and that of her son were found in April about a mile apart along the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay, within miles of the spot where Scott Peterson said he launched his boat Dec. 24 for a solo fishing trip.

Peterson has pleaded innocent to two counts of murder in the deaths. He could receive the death penalty if convicted.

"As this is a death-penalty case, the court must carefully and cautiously consider the impact cameras in the courtroom may have on providing a fair trial," Girolami wrote in his six-page ruling.

Girolami suggested print media coverage had less potential to taint the jury pool.

Prospective jurors will have a more difficult time avoiding or disregarding something they have seen replayed "many times on television in living color as opposed to something they have read about a few times in black and white," Girolami wrote.

The decision came four days after the judge ruled the hearing would be open to the public.

Television networks, including CNN, Court TV and NBC, had filed almost 1,000 pages of documents in their bid to allow cameras in the courtroom.

A group of newspapers, including The Bee, had sought to have a still camera photographer cover the proceeding. Prosecutors had requested the camera ban, and members of Laci Peterson's family joined that request.

Girolami described the plea from family members as "particularly compelling."

The victims' families will be "forced to relive their worst nightmare in a very public way, which unfortunately is necessary for the process," Girolami wrote.

"Televising these passionate proceedings is not, however, necessary to the process."

Scott Peterson's defense attorneys had argued to hold the hearing behind closed doors. When Girolami denied that request last week, they asked that cameras be allowed.

Henry Schleiff, chairman and CEO of Court TV, expressed disappointment with Monday's ruling but said the network's policy is not to appeal such decisions.

"According to our Constitution, trials are meant to be public, and we believe that all citizens -- not just the print press or those few who can fit into a courtroom -- should be able to watch their judicial system in action," Schleiff said in a written statement. "We respect Judge Girolami's decision and will not contest it."

Alonzo Wickers, whose firm represents broadcast media on the issue, said he could not comment on whether other networks would appeal.

"We hope the judge will revisit the issue before a subsequent proceeding in the case," Wickers said.

In the detailed ruling, Girolami cited 18 factors he weighed in his decision, including witnesses' privacy rights, the impact on finding an unbiased jury and the effect on ongoing law enforcement activity in the case.

"Because this case remains in its earliest stages, the possibility exists that the actual perpetrator remains at large," Girolami wrote.

The judge also said television coverage would "significantly increase the odds of requiring a change of venue."

Moving the trial is "not a desirable option" and would result in considerable hardship to the witnesses and added expense to the public, Girolami wrote.

August 20, 2003 -- The prosecution in the Laci Peterson murder case hypnotized a dog walker who resembles her in hopes of poking holes in husband Scott Peterson's defense, sources told The Post yesterday.

Cops believe Scott murdered Laci last Christmas Eve, before driving her body to Berkeley, Calif., and dumping it into San Francisco Bay. The defense has claimed witnesses spotted the pregnant woman walking her dog in Modesto at the time Scott Peterson allegedly murdered her.

To cut off the defense, prosecutors hope to show those witnesses were mistaking dog-walking Modesto resident Kristen Dempewolf, 34, for Laci, sources told The Post.

Both women were at about the same stage of pregnancy on Christmas Eve. Dempewolf delivered her baby at a Modesto hospital in early January - around the same time Laci Peterson would have given birth to son Conner.

Dempewolf's name surfaced on Monday, when unsealed court documents listed her - misspelled as "Deppenwolf" - as a witness interviewed under hypnosis. Investigators hypnotized Dempewolf so she could specifically recall .......

Testimony about human scent-tracking dogs and a prosecution witness interviewed using "hypnosis techniques" is expected to play a role in the preliminary hearing for accused double murderer Scott Peterson, newly released court documents show.

A separate court document made public Monday indicates that the remains of Peterson's wife, Laci, and unborn son, Conner, will be released to family members no later than Friday after a defense specialist X-rays the fetus.

Scott Peterson, 30, is charged with two counts of murder in the deaths. He has pleaded innocent.

The bodies were found in April along Bay shore near Richmond, roughly four months after Laci Peterson's reported disappearance from her Modesto home touched off a widespread search.

Modesto police used several dogs in the hunt for the 27-year-old substitute teacher.

Scott Peterson said he last saw his wife the morning of Dec. 24 as he left for a solo fishing trip to the Bay, and she prepared to walk their golden retriever, McKenzie, in Dry Creek Regional Park.

A potentially key development came Dec. 26, when a specially trained bloodhound from the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office indicated to its handler that Laci Peterson left her Covena Avenue home in a vehicle, not on foot.

The dog headed to Yosemite Boulevard, away from the park. Later, the dog led its handler from the Peterson house all the way to Maze Boulevard.

The handler at the time declined to identify herself or the dog.

The defense has requested a bevy of information about dogs used in the case, including their veterinary records, training reports, reliability tests and trainers' backgrounds, according to court documents filed by defense attorney Kirk McAllister.

Lead defense attorney Mark Geragos wrote in a July 29 letter to Rich Distaso, senior deputy district attorney and one of the lead prosecutors on the case, that Distaso had "previously indicated to me that the prosecution intends to call witnesses at the preliminary hearing who will testify as to human scent-tracking dogs."

The defense specifically wants information about a dog named Merlin and the dog's handler, Cindee Valentin, a deputy with the Contra Costa County Emergency Services Search and Rescue Unit, a division of the sheriff's department. Reserve Capt. Christopher Boyer of the search and rescue unit also was named.

Valentin could not be reached for comment. Contra Costa County Sheriff's spokesman Jimmy Lee said Valentin had been subpoenaed and was covered by a gag order imposed in the case by Judge Al Girolami.

The dog information request was contained in an eight-page motion listing 26 areas where the defense wanted more information from prosecutors.

Prosecutors replied in documents filed Monday that they had fully complied with the law, turning over 23,700 pages of documents, 18 videotapes, 100 audiotapes, five DVDs and three CDs of wiretap recordings, among other items.

Distaso also noted in the filing that prosecutors are requesting information from the defense, including the names and addresses of potential witnesses and any real evidence the defense intends to offer at the preliminary hearing set for Sept. 9.

At the defense's request, a hearing on evidentiary issues is scheduled for Sept. 2.

The prosecution document also indicates that one prosecution witness, identified as "Kristen Deppenwolf" was questioned in a "cognitive interview where hypnosis techniques were used."

August 20, 2003 -- The prosecution in the Laci Peterson murder case hypnotized a dog walker who resembles her in hopes of poking holes in husband Scott Peterson's defense, sources told The Post yesterday. Cops believe Scott murdered Laci last Christmas Eve, before driving her body to Berkeley, Calif., and dumping it into San Francisco Bay. The defense has claimed witnesses spotted the pregnant woman walking her dog in Modesto at the time Scott Peterson allegedly murdered her.

To cut off the defense, prosecutors hope to show those witnesses were mistaking dog-walking Modesto resident Kristen Dempewolf, 34, for Laci, sources told The Post.

Both women were at about the same stage of pregnancy on Christmas Eve. Dempewolf delivered her baby at a Modesto hospital in early January - around the same time Laci Peterson would have given birth to son Conner.

Dempewolf's name surfaced on Monday, when unsealed court documents listed her - misspelled as "Deppenwolf" - as a witness interviewed under hypnosis. Investigators hypnotized Dempewolf so she could specifically recall when and where she was walking her dog on Christmas Eve, sources said.

Prosecutors need to discredit witnesses who reported seeing Laci walking her dog on Dec. 24 so they can defend their theory that Scott killed Laci in their home "on or about and between" Dec. 23 and 24 and dumped her body near San Francisco.

Hey Ray: What the heck did the Judge mean when he stated that "because this is very early on in the case the possibility exists that the real perpetrator may still be at large"????????!! Watch big nose hang onto THAT one!!

12
posted on 08/20/2003 12:57:53 PM PDT
by Canadian Outrage
(All us Western Canuks belong South)

OMG bear disregard my last post on the remains!! I must have had a blonde moment. Either that or I'm tired and can't read. How dare that Peterson clan claim ownership of the remains of Laci and Connor???

24
posted on 08/20/2003 8:00:09 PM PDT
by Canadian Outrage
(All us Western Canuks belong South)

This is a partial transcript from On the Record with Greta Van Susteren, August 13, 2003. Click here to order the entire transcript of the show.

GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, HOST: Scott Peterson's (search) defense team is using paintings near the San Francisco Bay to support its satanic cult theory. According to the defense, the paintings apparently depict ritualistic killings and occult practices.

Here with pictures of the artwork is artist Bruce Rayburn who joins us from San Francisco.

Welcome, Bruce.

BRUCE RAYBURN, ARTIST OF CONTROVERSIAL IMAGES: Hi.

VAN SUSTEREN: Bruce, explain, first of all, where is this artwork the defense is interested in?

RAYBURN: Well, it is on an old landfill which is directly across from they, I guess, found the body, but I think that's just kind of a coincidence.

VAN SUSTEREN: Is the artwork painted on a wall, or is it up on boards? What is this artwork?

RAYBURN: The area used to be a landfill, and they, of course, dumped a lot of building materials there, like concrete slabs and things like that, and we started about five years ago painting on these concrete slabs and big drainage concrete things.

Defense attorneys for the man accused of killing Laci Peterson on Wednesday appealed a Stanislaus County judge's decision that an upcoming preliminary hearing remain open to the public.

Saying an open hearing would cause "irreversible" damage, Los Angeles attorney Mark Geragos asked the state's Fifth District Court of Appeal in Fresno to overturn Judge Al Girolami's ruling denying a defense motion to close the procedure.

Defense attorneys for Scott Peterson had argued in court papers filed July 22 that reporters and the general public should be barred from the Sept. 9 hearing. Doing so, they argued, would help prevent certain evidence from being broadcast to thousands of potential jurors who might form unfair opinions about the case before being officially seated on the panel.

Sacramento attorney Charity Kenyon, who represented the Times and other newspapers, contended that closing the hearing was an extremely rare and unnecessary action. The judge could ask potential jurors pointed questions about their knowledge of the case, she said, to help ensure Peterson would get a fair trial.

Girolami agreed in a decision issued during an Aug. 14 hearing. Four days later, however, he barred cameras from the courtroom to help control what he said could turn into a media circus.

Infamous Criminal Defendant Says He Feels For Scott Peterson and Robert Blake

N E W Y O R K, Aug. 20  O.J. Simpson believes Scott Peterson and Robert Blake are being convicted in the media, just as he says he was, according to Playboy magazine's David Sheff, who conducted an extensive interview to appear in the October issue.

Simpson, the man at the center of the "trial of the century," was acquitted of murdering his ex-wife, Nicole Brown, and her friend, Ronald Goldman, eight years ago.

"He feels that they [Peterson and Blake] are being tried by the media," Sheff said on ABCNEWS' Good Morning America today. "He says that it's something he relates to and he feels it's very unfair."

Peterson has pleaded not guilty to murder charges in the death of his wife, Laci, and their unborn son. Blake has pleaded not guilty to murder charges in the May 2001 fatal shooting of his wife, Bonny Lee Bakley.

According to Sheff, a contributing editor for the magazine, Simpson had some advice for Blake and Peterson.

"'No lie detector test,' he [Simpson] was advising them," Sheff said. "He said he understood, related to Robert Blake in particular, how he would like to tell his story to the public. But just as he was advised not to by his lawyers, he would counsel against that."

August 21, 2003 -- MODESTO, Calif. - A radiologist was sent yesterday to X-ray the remains of Laci Peterson and her unborn son to bolster the defense's contention that the fetus lived past Christmas Eve, the day police say Laci's husband, Scott, killed her in their home.

The defense-hired radiologist went to the criminalistics laboratory of the Contra Costa County coroner in Martinez to take the X-rays under law-enforcement supervision, sources said.

Defense experts in the double-murder case will compare the.........

29
posted on 08/21/2003 5:30:10 AM PDT
by runningbear
(Lurkers beware, Freeping is public opinions based on facts, theories, and news online.......)

The interview of Kristen Dempewolf was an apparent attempt to undercut Scott Peterson's alibi that his wife, Laci Peterson, 27, was preparing to walk the couple's dog when he left for a solo fishing trip, so he could not have killed her.

Like Laci, Dempewolf, 33, was pregnant, had shoulder-length brown hair and regularly walked her dog in the same neighborhood, the Modesto Bee reported Thursday, citing an unidentified source.

If Dempewolf was walking her dog the morning of Dec. 24. -- the same time Scott, 30. told authorities he left for the coast -- it could explain why several witnesses said they saw Laci Peterson walking her dog, the paper reported.

A telephone call to Dempewolf's home Thursday was not immediately returned. Dempewolf's husband, Martin Dempewolf, 34, told the paper his wife had been subpoenaed and was under the gag order.

Scott has pleaded not guilty to two murder charges in the deaths of his wife, Laci, and the couple's unborn child. Laci was eight months pregnant when she disappeared Christmas Eve -- her body and that of her son washed ashore along San Francisco Bay.

Meanwhile, Peterson's defense attorneys have appealed a judge's order that lets the public attend the hearing at which prosecutors will lay out their evidence against the Modesto fertilizer salesman charged with killing his wife and unborn child.

"Unless this court intervenes and closes the preliminary hearing, there will be no chance of obtaining an unbiased jury," defense attorney Mark Geragos wrote in a 28-page request filed Wednesday at the Fifth District Court of Appeal in Fresno.

Stanislaus County Judge Al Girolami ruled last week that the hearing would remain open, though he later banned all cameras and recording devices.

Geragos wants the state appeals court to overturn Girolami -- or order another hearing at which the judge would explain how his decision is not in "direct conflict" with prior rulings that sealed most documents and imposed a gag order.

Scott Peterson's preliminary hearing is set for Sept. 9. Preliminary hearings are like minitrials at which a judge decides whether the case should go to trial after hearing testimony from witnesses.

Geragos was surprised by the judge's ruling this week to ban cameras from the courtroom after earlier ruling against defense motions to close the hearing.

"It sounds like he repeated everything I said in my arguments to close the hearing," he said in a telephone interview Tuesday.

Anywho.com shows three Dempewolfs listed in Modesto. Each one has a different zip code. I was trying to remember what was the zip code of Scott's and Laci's Covena Avenue address? Probably the zip code of the right Dempewolfs will be the same as that.

According to Fox News, when asked by Amber if he had anything to do with Laci's disappearance, the first word Scott said was "yes"!!!!!!!! Immediately after, he started obfuscating and he changed his answer, but...........!!!!

According to Fox News, when asked by Amber if he had anything to do with Laci's disappearance, the first word Scott said was "yes"!!!!!!!! Immediately after, he started obfuscating and he changed his answer, but...........!!!!

In a Fox News exclusive, sources close to the case said that during a taped phone call between Peterson and Frey, Frey asked her former lover whether he'd had anything to do with his wife Laci Peterson's disappearance.

Responded Peterson, according to the sources: "Yes uh uh but no. But I know who did and I'll tell you later when I see you."

"Yes - uh - uh - but no." LOL. A confession like that really belongs in this case!

You're right, if he testifies, he's gonna need to explain it and he's bound to at least look a bit uncomfortable when he does. Of course, the defense will object to its admission, but it'll probably come in. ;-)

Responded Peterson, according to the sources: "Yes uh uh but no. But I know who did and I'll tell you later when I see you."

Question: who are these sources? These tapes are sealed potential evidence. It is unclear that they will be used, isn't it? MG, we know, will object to them. It's almost certain that the "sources" are not the defense. All persons--Amber, MPD, prosecution are under gag order. As reported by Fox, this was a direct quote. Is this not a serious violation of the gag order?

I am surprised at Fox News for this!! It could eliminate the use of that particular taped conversation. However, Amber is still a witness and they cannot eliminate her. Notice how DESPERATE the Defense is? Quote from Geragos" If this information gets out to the public it will cause IRREVERSIBLE harm to SP getting a fair trial"!! That tells me that the evidence is indeed DAMNING. Probably damning beyond what the scream team defense can think up.!!

42
posted on 08/25/2003 1:30:41 PM PDT
by Canadian Outrage
(All us Western Canuks belong South)

Thanks for the info! Here's a "what if" for you. What if, SP when he said "yes....um,um....but...no" intends to finish that off by saying "the Devil Satanists Club of which I'm a member.......MADE me do it".

Do you think that's Gergi's spin? SP was innocent cause the big bad satanists.....made him offer his wife??

I've been telling Scott how you've all been talking about him and suggesting explanations for his inexplicable actions. Early this morning, I felt he could hear me. He thanks you.

(Not really.)

Well, you've given him an explanation for his saying "yes": "Ladies and gentlemen, he was desperately obsessed with Amber Frey, and he only said what he thought she would buy as the truth, and he knew she wouldn't be a pushover and just take a straight no... he was saying yes to see if he could keep Amber placated and get to see her..."

I am surprised at Fox News for this!! It could eliminate the use of that particular taped conversation.

And WHAT IF our girl Amber was taping conversations, or, at least, one particular conversation, with Scott BEFORE she went to MPD? Wouldn't prosecution want that "particular" conversation to be leaked, knowing that it was inadmissable? I don't want to be a spoiler here in regard to Scott's guilt because I think he's guilty as sin, but I can see how this latest breathless reporting can hurt the prosecution's case. Heck, it could even lead to a change of venue; e.g., these selective leaks aren't coming from another county, are they? Exactly who was talking in direct quotes about what was said on any of those tapes?

sANDY: I wouldn't put it pass some of Amber's so called friends. This could have been said right at the very beginning "before" there ever was a gag order. Amber's "friends" have stabbed her in the back before.

50
posted on 08/25/2003 5:17:51 PM PDT
by Canadian Outrage
(All us Western Canuks belong South)

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